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Money is still “slumbering” in the ground

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According to its budget plan, which has now been unanimously approved, the town of Barnstorf is planning on a deficit this year. The bottom line is that the shortfall is around 650,000 euros. Treasurer Friedhelm Gieseke explained the reason for this and why money is still waiting in the ground to the town council members of Barnstorf on Wednesday evening in the council chamber.

Barnstorf – Due to a software change, the budget for the current year was only presented with a significant delay. Gieseke apologized for this before presenting the draft. Tax revenues in the Barnstorf district’s budget developed predominantly positively in the 2023 financial year. There were increases in trade tax, sales tax shares and dog tax. “The high additional revenues from trade tax are particularly noteworthy,” said the treasurer.

However, revenue from property taxes A and B, income tax shares and entertainment tax were below the estimated budget estimates. Revenue from entertainment tax continued to decline. The total revenue here was significantly lower than in previous fiscal years.

The total amount of tax revenue in 2023 has increased by around 270,000 euros compared to the planned estimates in the budget. The assessment rates for property tax A and B and trade tax will remain the same in the 2024 financial year.

Surcharges are a significant factor

In terms of payments from ongoing administrative activities, the district levy (around EUR 3,400,000) and the joint municipality levy (around EUR 4,800,000) are particularly significant. The bottom line is that the operating budget shows a deficit of around EUR 530,000. “But the reserves are more than enough to balance things out,” said the treasurer. The surplus reserve, which is offset to balance the budget, amounted to just over three million euros.

Gieseke then spoke about the planned investment sums for 2024. The budget expects a surplus of 123,000 euros from the sale of land. The town, on the other hand, wants to invest in arable land as compensation area (69,000 euros) and an initial partial amount for the Brinkstrasse pedestrian bridge (70,000 euros). The total investment sum is 187,600 euros. In addition, there is the repayment of debts. The draft financial budget ends with a deficit of around 430,000 euros.

Properties need more time

Some investment measures planned for the 2022 and 2023 budget years have not yet been fully completed. Background: In 2022, the town of Barnstorf invested around 2.5 million euros to acquire undeveloped land and build residential space there, which would later be marketed. However, this project has now been dragging on for over two years. The town has not yet been able to make a profit from the investment.

The measures will now be continued in the current year and will only be finally settled then. “The settlement and assessment of the development contributions for the development facilities built in the Immenzaun commercial area could only be carried out at the end of 2023. Only a small part of the assessed contributions were received in 2023,” said the treasurer.

Treasurer arranges budget

Due to delays in the development planning, the marketing of the building plots in the “Im Steenflage” development area could not begin in 2023. The marketing of the building plots will only be possible in the coming years. These budget remainders from 2022 and 2023 are now placing an additional burden on the 2024 budget. All in all, there will be a shortfall of around 650,000 euros left at the end. “We will have to live with this,” said Friedhelm Gieseke.

His summary of the 2024 budget for the town of Barnstorf is: “mixed and sobering”. He mentioned the low investment volume compared to the total budget. “But more is not possible,” he said. But the municipality does not want to “cut itself to death like the federal government”. By this he means: Despite the high deficit, the town of Barnstorf is planning 220,000 euros for the maintenance of the municipal roads. This budget is nevertheless “a mirror image of the previous year’s budget – with similar problems”.

Money is still in the municipality’s real estate

The treasurer reminded the council members that there is a lot of money in the municipality’s real estate. “But we don’t want to just have it on the shelf, we want it to be presented in the shop window or, better yet, brought directly to the people. But that’s not where we are at the moment,” Friedhelm Gieseke made clear.

He concluded by describing the 2024 budget as a “damn difficult issue” that he could not and did not want to sugarcoat.

The Fleckenrat comments on the 2024 budget

Barnstorf – Nils Winter opened the parliamentary group’s round of comments on the budget for the SPD: “We went ‘all in’ with the land purchases. Tax money was invested, but nothing is happening. Why has it taken 2.5 years now?” he asked. Partial sales of the land should now be a priority. He also mentioned the increase in the joint municipality levy. This has increased by 8.33 percent compared to the previous year, which means additional costs of 370,000 euros for the town.

Ludolf Roshop (CDU) defended the high joint municipality levy. “We have big projects ahead of us in the joint municipality.” He noted that this draft budget would make ends meet without new loans. The debt burden is also developing positively. In his conclusion, he also addressed the lack of land sales. “We also have to keep the companies happy and stay in touch with them,” said the Christian Democrat.

Klaus Naber, speaking on behalf of the FDP, saw no revenue problem in the budget. It was much more of an “austerity budget”. He also criticized the high joint municipality levy. When it came to acquiring land in 2022, people were still optimistic. But “administrative wheels grind slowly,” he said, without wanting to criticize the administration’s employees, as he said. Now it’s time for the town to sell its “silverware”.

Voters’ association demands quarterly information on properties

Klaus Schmelz (Greens) spoke of a “transitional budget”. He found it embarrassing that the federal government was already working on the budget for 2025, while the municipal budget for this year was only now on the table. He saw it as positive that the town was investing in social housing and LED technology.

Helmut Klug (WG) demanded quarterly information from the administration on the status of the properties.

The mayor of the joint municipality, Alexander Grimm, explained that a company’s geothermal project near the Poggenkuhle area had failed. This had delayed marketing. The question of the location for the new Barnstorf primary school was also still on the table. The administration is now trying to enable residential development. In response to criticism of the joint municipality levy, he said: “We are not building castles in the air, but are taking care of our mandatory tasks.”

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